Defence of Abercorn
- Category:
- Military operations
- Front:
- Africa
- Date:
- 5 September 1914
- Author:
- Natalia
On 5 September 1914 a force from German East Africa crossed the border of British Northern Rhodesia, today’s Zambia. Its objective was Abercorn, today Mbala, the northernmost British outpost in this part of Africa. So began the defence of Abercorn, which lasted until 9 September.
An outpost at the end of the world
Abercorn lay on a plateau, a few dozen kilometres from the southern end of Lake Tanganyika and right by the border with the German colony. It owed its name to the president of the British South Africa Company, which administered Northern Rhodesia. At the start of the war it had only token protection. The local commissioner managed to gather a dozen or so district police, who were joined by about 40 soldiers of the Northern Rhodesia Police under Lieutenant McCarthy.
The raid
The German force numbered over 300 men: a few officers, several dozen askaris, and above all irregular ruga-ruga warriors and armed porters. The raiders burnt administrative buildings and the stores of a trading company in the border settlements and repeatedly cut the telegraph line linking Abercorn with Fife, further to the east.
The defenders of Abercorn were many times weaker, but they held their positions. Meanwhile relief was on its way from the interior of the colony: over a hundred soldiers of the Northern Rhodesia Police under Major Henry Stennett. It reached Abercorn on 9 September, the day of another German attack. The reinforced garrison, now about 230 men with three machine guns, drove off the attackers, and the next day the Germans withdrew across the border, pursued by McCarthy’s detachment.
War on the border
The raid was small, but it marked the beginning of a long war on the border between Northern Rhodesia and German East Africa. Over the next two years Abercorn, Fife and the neighbouring posts repeatedly repelled German raids, and the Northern Rhodesia Police grew rapidly: by the beginning of 1915 it already numbered over 800 African soldiers and NCOs. The British were soon also helped by troops from neighbouring Belgian Congo.
Abercorn also earned its place in the history of the war in its last days. On 25 November 1918, two weeks after the armistice in Europe, it was here that General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the undefeated commander of the German forces in East Africa, surrendered.
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Meanwhile
(04)Elsewhere in the same days.
- 5 September 1914 · Western FrontBattle of the Ourcq beginsOn 5 September 1914 Maunoury's French Sixth Army struck the flank of Kluck's army near Meaux. The clash at Monthyon opened the great Battle of the Marne.
- 5 September 1914 · War at seaSinking of HMS PathfinderOn 5 September 1914 the German U-21 sank the cruiser HMS Pathfinder off Scotland, the first British warship sunk by a submarine.
- 5 September 1914 · Western FrontGermans leave LilleOn 5 September 1914 the German detachment that had entered Lille three days earlier left the city. The Germans returned for good only in October.
- 5 September 1914 · Western FrontGermans occupy ReimsAt the beginning of September 1914 German troops occupied Reims. The occupation of the coronation city of the kings of France lasted just over a week.
Related events
(04)The same battle, people or subject.
- 9 September 1914 · AfricaDefence of Abercorn endsOn 9 September 1914 relief reached Abercorn in Northern Rhodesia. The reinforced garrison beat off another German attack and the raiders fell back.
- 1 September 1914 · AfricaFirst Indian contingent arrives at MombasaOn 1 September 1914 the first unit of Indian Expeditionary Force "C" reached Mombasa, sent to aid the weak forces of British East Africa.
- 19 August 1914 · AfricaFirst Indian unit sets out for East AfricaOn 19 August 1914 the 29th Punjabis left India, the first unit of an Indian expeditionary force sent to the front. Its destination was East Africa.
- 8 August 1914 · AfricaHostilities begin in East AfricaOn 8 August 1914 the British cruiser Astraea shelled Dar es Salaam in German East Africa. A war began there that lasted until November 1918.